RedLetterMedia's Attack of the Clones review

[Illuminatus Primus]

This guy has the speaking skills of Steven Hawking trying to sell Cutco. I couldn't make it through three minutes.

[adam_grif]

This guy has the speaking skills of Steven Hawking trying to sell Cutco. I couldn't make it through three minutes.

Actually he has a completely normal voice and can speak fine, but he puts on that voice for the reviews. In the TPM review he did, you can hear him talking to people that he's interviewing, and he sounds totally normal. He also starts slipping out of his review voice a bit near the end during the final "serial killer" scenes. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the "Star Trek Guy" is voiced by him also.

[Jim Raynor]

You know what? I just watched that scene again. I disagreed with the guy's opinion about the chase scene before. Upon further inspection I can definitively call it bullshit.

The POV character for the early part of the chase scene is not Anakin, it's Obi-Wan. And Obi-Wan is scared shitless of some of the crazy crap that Anakin pulls during the chase, meaning that not even a Jedi is comfortable in those kind of situations. The point of the scene is clear: Anakin is cocky and reckless. Anakin doesn't flinch but he clearly screws up along the way, such as when he plows through the electricity and gets himself a nice little shock.

Now, the part in question. The review asserts that because Anakin can jump down onto a speeder several thousand feet below him, he's too godlike and nothing in the rest of the scene can threaten him. How can Anakin pull off such an incredible feat? With about 12 full seconds of preparation, that's how. Yes, Anakin actually brought his speeder to a full stop, looked over the side at his target, continued thinking for several more seconds, looked down again, and then jumped. 12 full seconds of looking and using the Force, not exactly something he can pull out at a moment's notice in any other part of the action sequence. BTW, it wasn't perfect precognition either, Anakin had to glide and alter his course so that he would land where he wanted to.

And what happens right after Anakin lands on the target speeder? He's barely able to stay on, grunting as he strains himself to maintain his grip. He's quickly flipped over the speeder by the villain as she tilts the vehicle, something which he didn't want to happen and thus proves he can't do whatever the hell he wants. Anakin strains some more and has to change his grip and footing some more, as the villain shoots at him. He tries to use his lightsaber and quickly loses it. The speeder is damaged, Anakin is thrown to the ground, and he loses track of the villain.

So right after Anakins big feat, he was immediately challenged and put in danger. The review was bullshit on this point. I'm not going to bother going through the rest of it, but I can't say I'm all that impressed based on this and a few other parts I've read about. This is the kind of bullshit video that sways online opinion?

EDIT: Totally agree on this guy's voice. It's retarded and unbearable. Even if he has some good points, his presentation is awful. People hate the prequels but they can sit through this?

[General Brock]

A lot of people sit through creepy-campy tasteless B-movies. This is a little shorter and has the Star Wars hook to catch viewers.

[adam_grif]

A lot of people sit through creepy-campy tasteless B-movies. This is a little shorter and has the Star Wars hook to catch viewers.

And it's generally hilarious, so there's that.

[Oskuro]

Totally agree on this guy's voice. It's retarded and unbearable. Even if he has some good points, his presentation is awful. People hate the prequels but they can sit through this?

Turns out people like different things and some will hate what others like? Seriously, is this thread going to turn into another shitstorm just because some people don't like the reviewer's style?

[Illuminatus Primus]

I'm sorry, I'll limit my free response to the prompt to what you think I should.

[Channel72]

Now, the part in question. The review asserts that because Anakin can jump down onto a speeder several thousand feet below him, he's too godlike and nothing in the rest of the scene can threaten him. How can Anakin pull off such an incredible feat? With about 12 full seconds of preparation, that's how. Yes, Anakin actually brought his speeder to a full stop, looked over the side at his target, continued thinking for several more seconds, looked down again, and then jumped. 12 full seconds of looking and using the Force, not exactly something he can pull out at a moment's notice in any other part of the action sequence. BTW, it wasn't perfect precognition either, Anakin had to glide and alter his course so that he would land where he wanted to.

Yeah, Anakin found it slightly difficult to jump out of a flying car and land on a specific vehicle moving at high-speeds thousands of feet below. Please, is that supposed to actually address the point here? The entire scene is riddled with implausibly reckless stunts which erode away any sense that these characters are in any real danger. Obi-Wan jumps out of the window into mid-air traffic, hangs on to a small droid (which he apparently somehow knew would be able to carry his weight), then falls thousands of feet only to safely land in Anakin's car. Then, Anakin jumps out of the car and falls thousands of feet, and Obi-Wan just basically rolls his eyes.

If despite all that you honestly still felt some tension while watching this scene, i.e. you still felt as though the characters could actually die, then I'm glad it worked for you. But to me, it's basically like watching a cartoon, since I don't know what could happen in this scene that would actually kill them. I thought the real danger would be falling to their death, but apparently that doesn't faze them at all.

Suppose Lucas wrote a scene where the Jedi are trapped in a burning building, but then reveals that Jedi are immune to fire. This scene would be drained of all possible tension, because the heroes obviously aren't in any danger. Yet this is more or less exactly what happens in Episode II. The most obvious danger (falling) is totally deflated, since the Jedi can just use the force to glide or something and then time their fall to land on another passing vehicle.

Totally agree on this guy's voice. It's retarded and unbearable. Even if he has some good points, his presentation is awful.

It seems this guy's voice is a love-it or hate-it sort of thing. Personally, I find it really funny, but it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea.

People hate the prequels but they can sit through this?

That's because Prequel-bashing is simply fun. Also, the random hooker he kidnaps in this video is a better actress than anyone in the Prequels.

[adam_grif]

Disagree on the last point. I kind of hated the scenes with the kidnap victim. I felt it would have been way more effective if the camera just kind of went past her momentarily, and he didn't do anything to deliberately draw attention to it. It was funnier in the TPM review before she started speaking, but then he drew too much attention to it and I thought it brought the joke down. Now in the AOTC review he sits down and chats with her ffs.

[Vympel]

I still think the Buffalo Bill riff is hilarious. That said, this guy's at his funniest when he's doing "big picture" criticism of what's wrong with movies (his Star Trek reviews are freaking classics). However some of his more minutiae-like plot criticisms this time around come off as extremely forced - like the whole bit about Obi-Wan leaping on the probe droid, or their supposedly totally unreasonable assumption that the person who sent the probe droid is, as a matter of fact, worth chasing

ROFLMAO for fucking five minutes at the return of "what's wrong with your face" though. I didn't really dwell on how offensive it (supposedly?) is. Comedy's inappropriate, whatever.

I'm still watching anyway.

EDIT: I never picked that up - how the hell did Padme know that Dooku was going to a hangar for her to say "we've got to get to that hangar"?

ROFLMAO again at the dubbed exchange between Sidious and Tyranus at the end of Part 8.

[Oskuro]

Doesn't he kind of admit during the review that he's being overly nitpicky? I like the "big picture" criticisms too, since they show more insight into the art of filmmaking, and as the thread on the TPM review showed, many of the nitpicks can be rationalized if one wants to. As for his humour, the whole kidnapper/murderer angle I think works best when done as quick throwaway jokes and he doesn't dwell on it, the extended hostage scenes do rub me the wrong way.

I'm sorry, I'll limit my free response to the prompt to what you think I should.

So, pointing out that people have a right to like different things is now a demand that you conform to my tastes? Are you retarded, trolling or harboring massive confidence issues?

[Stofsk]

I still think the Buffalo Bill riff is hilarious. That said, this guy's at his funniest when he's doing "big picture" criticism of what's wrong with movies (his Star Trek reviews are freaking classics). However some of his more minutiae-like plot criticisms this time around come off as extremely forced - like the whole bit about Obi-Wan leaping on the probe droid, or their supposedly totally unreasonable assumption that the person who sent the probe droid is, as a matter of fact, worth chasing

I actually agree with his criticism of that whole sequence. In the film, Obi-wan acts uncharacteristically by jumping through the window to ride the probe droid - RLM was right in that it would have fit Anakin, but with Obi-wan it was uncharacteristic (particularly when later on when they reach the bar, he admonishes Anakin for being impatient and rushing into things before considering his move). It was stupid and every criticism RLM made of that was spot on - there's no way to know that the probe droid could have held his weight, or didn't have a bomb (it's not like probe droids don't have self-destructs ), or that it would even return to where it came from (seriously, wtf was Zam Wessel thinking? She must have been the stupidest fucking assassin in the galaxy). The fact that it did return to sender just makes that whole sequence contrived.

EDIT: I never picked that up - how the hell did Padme know that Dooku was going to a hangar for her to say "we've got to get to that hangar"?

Maybe she read the script.

[Channel72]

He spends a lot of time discussing the overall weaknesses of the film, which is a lot more interesting than nitpicking individual plot-points. However, many of the minor nitpicks are interesting in their own right; I too never noticed Padme's line about the hangar. Nonetheless, the reviewer is clearly more interested in overall weaknesses than plot-holes. The two most obvious plot-related problems in the entire movie (waiting 10 years to rescue Anakin's mother and the obvious connection between the Clone army and the Separatists) are never even mentioned. I think this was a good decision, because these points have already been beaten to death by now. I also particularly liked the whole bit on Samuel Jackson, and how the character of Mace Windu was totally underwhelming.

[Axiomatic]

It's ironic that you can learn so much about film making by listening to a serial murderer.

Also, for some reason I find it incredibly funny when he cuts himself off in the middle of the last word of his sentence.

[Gramzamber]

When you think about it, it's ironic that someone playing a serial killer has such a hard time thinking that a woman would fall for a homicidal idiot.
Look at those dumbasses who write love letters to Richard Ramirez and Ted Bundy.

As for the assassination business, it's all retarded. Why do they want to kill Amidala? Because of her anti-military bill? So they want to make her a martyr?
Also, RLM touches on what baffled me for years, why the hell did a bounty hunter hire another bounty hunter to do his job for him? Is Jango Fett just a lazy middle-man? If so, why are they basing a whole clone army on this guy? Do they need clones with the ability to lie around while somebody else does their work?

[Axiomatic]

Why base an army on a bounty hunter in the first place? They're not exactly good soldiers.

[Srelex]

Why base an army on a bounty hunter in the first place? They're not exactly good soldiers.

Because he's MANDALORIAN!1!11!

[Gramzamber]

Why base an army on a bounty hunter in the first place? They're not exactly good soldiers.

Because he's MANDALORIAN!1!11!

That and an army of Temuera Morrisons looks good on their paperwork.

[Aaron]

Why base an army on a bounty hunter in the first place? They're not exactly good soldiers.

Didn't they just use his genetics? Giraffe alien tells Obi-Wan that they tampered with the clones brains to make them more obedient and they follow orders pretty well in the films, to the extent that they kill their own CO's. Add to that they spent ten years being trained from birth, basically to follow orders and be soldiers. All Jango did was supply some cells.

[Stofsk]

I don't see why you'd want to limit yourself to one genetic template for a clone army.

But I suppose it beats having to hire more than one actor to play the role of a clonetrooper.

[Gramzamber]

I don't see why you'd want to limit yourself to one genetic template for a clone army.

But I suppose it beats having to hire more than one actor to play the role of a clonetrooper.

The RotS ICS explains that for fighter pilots at least, there are multiple clone lineages from ace pilots.
Not that we ever see this on screen, just Fett everywhere, doing everything.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I love how he describes the disjointed nature of AotC's 'plot' by likening it to someone getting five boxes of jigsaw puzzles and mixing them on the floor and then saying you have an hour to put them together.

And then showed the two women screaming in the basement trying to do that. This guy is so far beyond 'over the top' you can't help but laugh.

Edit: The voice he does is a character, he doesn't really sound like that.

[Gramzamber]

I love how he describes the disjointed nature of AotC's 'plot' by likening it to someone getting five boxes of jigsaw puzzles and mixing them on the floor and then saying you have an hour to put them together.

And then showed the two women screaming in the basement trying to do that. This guy is so far beyond 'over the top' you can't help but laugh.

I admit it, I laughed when he went "59 MINUTES!!" in front of the terrified girls. I feel bad now.

[CaptainChewbacca]

And those were the 'thats what he said!' girls, too.

[Kane Starkiller]

I loved his rant about lightsaber overuse in part 7:
"I actually like the scene the best where they all try not to get eaten by the monsters in the arena because we see them doing things without the fucking lightsaber; adds some tension. But then we can't go ...uhhh no don't give it... uhhhhh now they got them again."